What Its Name?

[Catt]

You know that place ya fish that's got you number!

Mine is Lacassine Wildlife Refuge (16,500 acres), a shallow water marsh (18-24") that is extremely clear with tons of various types of vegetation. The marsh is federally owned & is only open from March 15 through October 15. Opens daily at 30 minutes before sunrise till 30 minutes after sunset. After being decimated by hurricanes Katrina, Rita, & Ike wildlife & fisheries has stocked 50-60,000 Florida bass yearly.

This marsh is so fickled the locals call it lack-a-sense because one has to have a lack of sense to fish it!

I've fished this marsh on & off since I was 7, I'm now 63! I've been skunked on this marsh more than any place on earth, if it wasn't for the 5 DD bass I've caught there I probably wouldn't fish it.

[Catch and Grease]

I feel ya..... I fish a place called banks lake which is basically a lake made out of a swamp and I get skunked all the time there! During the tournaments if you catch a limit you have a good chance at winning the tournament.

[Bankbeater]

It's called Mark Twain Lake. Everyone in the world can be fishing that lake and catching them.  I won't get a bite.

[A-Jay]

I have a such a place.

 

Without giving it's proper name (just to avoid the ridicule that would inevitably follow) I call it 

The Dead Sea. 

 

Whenever I think I'm starting to get this bass fishing thing figured out, after spending a day out at this place and I'm instantly reminded that ~ I Know Nothing ! (that's one of my favorite Sargent Shultz quotes btw)

 

A-Jay

[Bluebasser86]

Hillsdale   

[Dwight Hottle]

Erieeeee

[Lund Explorer]

The Martiny Chain.

 

A group of small lakes connected by narrow channels and surrounded by hundreds of acres of shallow water lily pads and duck weed.  The place holds some real quality fish, but the dink -to- keeper ratio is around 12-1, and that's only if you're on the fish.  One of the few tournament lakes I've ever fished where a 14" keeper can barely weigh over a pound.

[Raul]

"Los Reyes" is my kryptonite. not only I just can´t seem to catch anything decent there, dinks only, and I can´t even catch those on a regular basis.

[F14A-B]

Patoka lake... But it's not just me, lots of folks hate the lake for LMB , over and over again I have seen 40 boat tournaments with a single fish winning? I consider my self a decent fisherman, not on patoka.... I quit fishing it though I know a guy that caught a 9+ in a area I fished a lot ... Great crappie/ bluegill and now pretty good for stripers... But LMB ? Might as well travel and hire a boat.. That's my thing...

[ww2farmer]

My home lake...........Silver Lake. It's generally hated by the masses. On it's best days it's never easy. And on it's worst days you would swear there is not a fish in the place (when according to NYS DEC it has the highest population density of fish per acre of ANY LAKE IN NYS)I had a nice 3 year streak of not being skunked ended this year about 2 weeks ago...........and since, I have been skunked another time too. It's one of those places where you can catch 20-24 lbs for your best five one day, and struggle for a couple 12" keepers the next. I generally do better than most there, but I have fished it for almost 30 years, and probably more than anyone the last 10. If for it not being so close to home, I would NOT fish it so much. The nest closest lake, Conesus, is a far better fishery, but it's just not as handy to get to for the after work, or little quicky trips that make up so much of my fishing time (10min drive vs. 35 min drive)

[Sam]

There are two:

 

One Fish Anna. That lake can drive a person nuts.

Mattaponi River - Once was the worst place to fish for bass in Virginia. Has gotten a little better.

 

Only fish these two bodies of water during club tournaments.

[EmersonFish]

As far as lakes that others do well on that seem to kick my butt every time... 'Grand Lake' in Oklahoma. I use to go fish the 'Falcon Grand Challenge' every May, but got tired of the embarrassing results. Since then I've sold most of my Falcon rods anyway, and you have to use Falcon rods in that tournament. As a matter of pride, I might just grab a couple of cheap Bucoos off of the sale rack and go down there again next year. Try and slay that dragon. 

[WRB]

Lake Casitas, the lake I now must fish because it's a good trophy size bass lake, or was!

Castias is often called the Dead Sea by SoCal bass anglers because the bass can be very difficult to catch on lures during summer days and it's closed to night fishing except for occasion night bass tournaments held from 6 PM to mid night. Casitas doesn't get any fish plants, no trout, bass or crawfish plants, what's is there is self supporting.

During the summer the bite is usually a very early morning shad bite until the sun hits the water, that is about the time the lake opens!, 10 minutes followed by a long hot day maybe getting a few bites if you are lucky. Getting skunked is common, unless you resort to 6 lb FC and drop, shot finesse worms to maybe catch a few 12"-15" bass.

Today in SoCal we have Quagga mussel issues that prevent moving a boat from lake to lake. 31 day quarantine period to change lakes, so we fish with different partners with boat approved for each lake, no more spontaneous boating trips, a pain in the a-- !

Tom

[*Hootie]

Patoka lake... But it's not just me, lots of folks hate the lake for LMB , over and over again I have seen 40 boat tournaments with a single fish winning? I consider my self a decent fisherman, not on patoka.... I quit fishing it though I know a guy that caught a 9+ in a area I fished a lot ... Great crappie/ bluegill and now pretty good for stripers... But LMB ? Might as well travel and hire a boat.. That's my thing...

Living in Cincinnati, I always wanted to fish Patoka, but now.....never mind.

Hootie

[boostr]

It's called Mark Twain Lake. Everyone in the world can be fishing that lake and catching them. I won't get a bite.

Same with me at the Franklin Lakes Nature Preserve. Can't buy a bite, but my three year old son no problem kills it.

[Raul]

Gentlemen, let´s look at this from another perspective, we all have our nemesis places .... what don´t kill you makes you strong !

[jhoffman]

I too loathe my local lake... sayers dam. Theres fish in it but the amount of traffic that lake sees is borderline crazy. Sometimes during the summer there is 2-3 different tournaments A DAY.

[Jon G]

Well I have lived in IL for 14 months and have only fished a handful of lakes here and havent run into anything too difficult..... yet....

 

I used to live in SoCal and the one lake that drove me absolutley nuts was Lake Silverwood it had a lot of BIG Stripers and bass and I did catch my PB Of 11lbs off that lake but that lake was ridiculous with the wind it was like trying to fish in a hurricane, at least when I went there, also there were days when I couldnt even catch a little bluegill If my life depended on it.

[Shanes7614]

WRB.... Try fishing around the sunken island in Casitas.

[B@ssCrzy]

Patoka lake... But it's not just me, lots of folks hate the lake for LMB , over and over again I have seen 40 boat tournaments with a single fish winning? I consider my self a decent fisherman, not on patoka.... I quit fishing it though I know a guy that caught a 9+ in a area I fished a lot ... Great crappie/ bluegill and now pretty good for stripers... But LMB ? Might as well travel and hire a boat.. That's my thing...

 

Amen!!!  Fished it for 3 years straight and caught one dink!!!!  Never will go back to that lake unless I need to humble myself again.....

[B@ssCrzy]

Gentlemen, let´s look at this from another perspective, we all have our nemesis places .... what don´t kill you makes you strong !

 

Or makes you start drinking heavily!!! 

[J Francho]

I'm at it right now, Abanakee Lake, at my buddy's place. Smallies, largies, and northerns coming over the side of the boat, none attached to my line, lol. It's all good though, it's paradise up here.

[Ratherbfishing]

I hear some people rave about Clinton Lake which is the closest impoundment to where I live.  Naturally, therefore, because it is so convenient, I can't seem to catch anything there but stunted white bass and the occassional catfish.  I have a friend who used to work at the Marina and he fished there quite regularly.  He had what he called his regular "milk run" where he went and caught bass.  Now he says he, like me, can't catch a cold there.

[everythingthatswims]

Sugar Hollow Reservoir...It's a <50 acre, clear, deep (75') reservoir, that it stocked with trout = mini California in Virginia. I have seen many big fish in there and have yet to land one. Hooked one recently about 6lbs on an 8" BBZ but one of the trebles hung a log and watched him shake loose. The worst part is that once you spot a big one, it's too late and he will just follow you around watching you (only bank fishing allowed) and wont even look at a bait. I have to bushwhack a lot to fish to the side of the lake that doesn't get fished much, because the briars will shred you to death, snakes seem to be under every rock and log, the bank it so steep in some places that you better be holding on to a sapling or something when you walk by, and it is hard to find a place to comfortably cast from. If I didn't see them every time I was there, I wouldn't be putting myself through this! I WILL figure them out.

[Nice_Bass]

I hear some people rave about Clinton Lake which is the closest impoundment to where I live.  Naturally, therefore, because it is so convenient, I can't seem to catch anything there but stunted white bass and the occassional catfish.  I have a friend who used to work at the Marina and he fished there quite regularly.  He had what he called his regular "milk run" where he went and caught bass.  Now he says he, like me, can't catch a cold there.

I love fishing that lake...i guess it would be my home lake.  I never really have an issue catching decent fish there but it seems like many do.  I also only fish a milk run there as well. 

 

We need to fish.